For a brief Friday afternoon spell, things were not going to plan at all in this corner of the Middle East. Either for Rory McIlroy or the organisers of the Dubai Desert Classic, that is.
When the world No 2 took three putts at the 11th, he slipped back to level par and therefore to the wrong side of the cut line. For a player who was such short odds to win the tournament before a shot was struck to depart the scene with 36 holes to play would have represented a serious shock and a blow to the allure of this event.
A McIlroy recovery was to follow, courtesy of four birdies over the closing stretch. At six strokes behind the halfway leader, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, retaining the Desert Classic remains a strong possibility. For that to happen, McIlroy admits he needs both a “fast start” and improvement on a putting performance he described as “tentative”.
Was a second missed cut as a professional in this event in McIlroy’s thoughts? “Oh yes,” he said. “I was definitely thinking about it, especially over a putt on 12.
“I had a six-footer for par on 12. If I missed that, one over for the tournament, it would have been a long way back from there. So to make that putt and play the next six holes in four under par was a nice way to finish.
“I didn’t have my best stuff with me, struggled at the start of the round and around the middle of the round. I needed something just to, first and foremost, be here for the weekend. Then birdieing the last three holes, that definitely gives me a little bit of momentum going into the weekend.
“There’s a lot of players between myself and the lead but at the same time, I’ve come back from bigger deficits than this and this is one of my favourite places. If I can get off to a faster start tomorrow, you never know. And I’ll get better conditions, as well. I’ll be out a little earlier. The greens and the course in general got very firm and very fast out there, so hopefully I can get out in the morning and post a good score.”
Ernie Els backed up a Thursday 68 with a 67 to lie within one of the lead. "Rory is obviously the guy to beat this week," said Els. "He is such an explosive player. I would love to be in the mix with him."
Danny Willett is on the same aggregate score as Els with Thorbjorn Olesen, Andy Sullivan, Joost Luiten, Henrik Stenson, amateur sensation Bryson Dechambeau and Byeong-hun An among 36 players at four under or better.
Sullivan is perhaps the Leicester City of golf; he simply refuses to go away. He is competing in style too, as emphasised by back-to-back halves of 33 on day two. “It will be fun to have a run at them on the weekend,” said a confident Sullivan. “This is a nice little position to be in, just tucked in there behind the leaders at the moment.”
Willett, who should be looking to join Sullivan in a Ryder Cup battle later this year, carded a Friday 65 which didn’t include a single bogey. The Englishman’s superb 2015 has afforded him scope for rest time during the coming season which he aims to take full advantage of. Willett had previously struggled with a back problem.
“A big part of my year is my weeks off and trying to get the fitness levels good,” he said. “Obviously spending time at home, making sure you get some good quality time at home and when I’m at home, making sure I get a lot of quality work on my golf so I can come out to relatively short spells instead of some guys, this is their fourth week in a row.”
McIlroy will be the only Irish golfer in action at the weekend, with Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke failing to make up for the disastrous end to his first round, a one-over 73 leaving him one shot outside the cut on one over.
Clarke missed a birdie chance that would have seen him tee it up at the weekend, while McDowell, also needing a birdie, found the water and made a double bogey to card a four-over 76.
Michael Hoey (71) and Paul McGinley (75) both finished up on five over.
Lee Westwood, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Louis Oosthuizen were among the other big names to miss the cut.
(Guardian service)
